Endoscopic surgical techniques (defined herein to include laparoscopic, thoracoscopic and arthroscopic) are becoming widely accepted by the medical profession. The utilization of endoscopic surgical procedures has eliminated the need for radical incisions into the fascia and musculature of a patient in order to access a particular internal part of the patient's body. In a typical endoscopic procedure, trocars are typically inserted into the body to penetrate through to body cavities, such as the abdominal cavity. The trocars typically consist of two primary components, the first of which is an elongated piercing instrument, known as an obturator. The trocar assembly also contains a trocar cannula in which the trocar obturator is housed. The trocar cannula remains in the body cavity after the trocar obturator is removed and serves as a pathway to and from the body cavity.
Various types of endoscopic instruments may be inserted through the trocar cannula pathway, including endoscopes, stapling apparatuses, cutting and ligating apparatuses, specimen retrieval bags and the like. In many surgical procedures, it is frequently necessary to remove tissue from the body. Accordingly, various types of endoscopic tissue retrieval instruments have been
It is essential that the mouth of the endoscopic specimen retrieval bag is open wide enough so that specimens can be easily entered into the bag. Without support the mouth of the device may deform or close making it difficult for specimens to be placed into the bag. The package is designed to hold the mouth of the bag open until the supporting belt takes a set. The package is designed to maintain the opening of the bag and ensuring that the opening does not become deformed until use. The folder is designed to hold the bag which has been forced open, shape the belt of the bag until it takes a set during sterilization and maintain its shape.
It is also important that endoscopic specimen retrieval devices be packaged in such a manner that the devices are protected during shipping, handling, and, of course, during sterilization procedures. A device which becomes displaced or shifted in its package during sterilization, shipping, handling, etc., will typically tend to retain a resulting distorted shape, may become damaged. The bag may unravel and become unusable for an endoscopic surgical procedure. In addition, it is important that the endoscopic device be easily removable from a package in an operating room without damaging the retrieval bag or cannula or compromising their sterility. In addition, since a packaged endoscopic device is typically placed into a plastic overwrap envelope prior to sterilization, it is critical that the plastic overwrap be protected from the cannula to prevent punctures and tears. Once the plastic overwrap is punctured or torn, the sterility of the endoscopic device is compromised and the device must typically be disposed of since it cannot be resterilized in a hospital environment.
What is needed in this art are packages for endoscopic tissue retrieval devices which are easy and economical to manufacture and which protect the devices during shipping, sterilization and handling and which further prevent the devices from shifting in the package.